Long Trail or Maine AT?

“im thinking of doing a mini-ultra late summer, either the long trail or the maine section of the AT

any thoughts?”

“come to NY”

“well, u've already done the Maine AT....”

“ive also done a significant chunk of the long trail, the portion that is concurrent with the AT, from the maine junction down”

“You could do the NPT in the Adirondacks. 122 miles and very few people.”

“how many re-supply points? or do you have to do it in one shot?”

“When I did it a few years ago with my cousin we did it with 3. One of which was delivered by a friend. The trail goes buy on post office in Piseco (sp?) and the Long Lake PO is 1.5 miles off the trail.”

“There's the Alabama Pinhoti that's about 140 miles. It will eventually tie into the AT. Probably too hot til Oct though.

It'd be fun to setup an ulta loop in the Smokies that lasts for 10 days or so.”

“the part of the LT after it leaves the AT is supposed to be the best part.”

“If the LT as close as the Black Hills for you? That'd be a cool trip. It's a 24 hr drive for me, but one day....”

“i think the LT is slightly closer, and much better. ive been to the black hills, anyway. liked it, but not as much as the LT”

“Ahh. Not trying to redirect, just throwing out what-ifs you might not have thought of.”

“Go for the Long Trail -- after all, it is the predecessor of the AT...”

“I didn't realize any of he LT was concurrent with the AT”

“Go for the LT, 2/3s of it will be new to you. I loved the Maine AT, and it is wondeful... and if you miss the AT culture, then I suppose that would be a reason to do the Maine AT.”

“missing the AT culture, especially the camaraderie, is a big part of it”

“You probably won't get the camaraderie of the AT on the NPT. You spend a lot of time alone. When I did it I only saw 18 other hikers in 10 days, 8 were on the last day, and one day I didn't see anyone. Of the 18 hikers, only one was a thru hiker who was going the opposite direction.”

“C!B!, how did you like the part of the LT that the AT travelled? Personally, it wasn't the highlight of my hike. It'd be ahrd to pick it over Maine. For me, Maine was the end-all-be-all.

With that said, I'd still probably do the the LT before another trip down the Maine AT (unless I do another thru before I can get around to the LT). I'd really like to see the LT north of the "Maine Junction" plus it'd be nice to add the LT to the hiking resume.

If you wait 'til Oct to do the LT you could time it to coincide w/ The Gathering, which is in Hanover this year. There'll be lots of dayhikes and AT commaraderie at The Gathering to enjoy. Shouldn't be that hard to hitch over from the LT.”

“AT Culture, huh?

Do you guys have a secret hand shake?”

“LOL to the secret handshake! Certainly the LT man, no doubt. Altho I agree that Maine AT is incredible, but the LT's a better choice. Yeah I heard too that the "other" section of the LT is much better than the AT section. I'd love to do that trip some day.”

“If you can, go west to John Muir trail instead :)”

“i was signed up for the jmt trip that gforce and prosecutor are doing, then i had to drop out due to some circumstances, now i could go again, but its too late to plan now”